Quantitative electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) analyses of lead zirconate titanate

Electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) analyses have been performed on a sol–gel deposited lead zirconate titanate film, showing that EELS can be used for heavy as well as light element analysis. The elemental distributions within the sol–gel layers are profiled using the Pb N6,7-edges, Zr M-edges, Ti L-edges and O K-edge. A multiple linear least squares fitting procedure was used to extract the Zr signal which overlaps with the Pb signal. Excellent qualitative information has been obtained on the distribution of the four elements. The non-uniform and complementary distributions of Ti and Zr within each sol–gel deposited layer are observed. The metal:oxygen elemental ratios are quantified using experimental standards of PbTiO3, PbZrO3, ZrO2 and TiO2 to provide relevant cross-section ratios. The quantitative results obtained for Ti/O and Pb/O are very good but the Zr/O results are less accurate. Methods of further improving the results are discussed.